Archbishop Timothy Broglio, Archdiocese for the Military Services, blesses the ashes during the Ash Wednesday Mass at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center on Feb. 22, 2023, in Memorial Auditorium. Republican lawmakers are demanding answers from the Defense Department over the recent ousting of a longtime Roman Catholic religious services provider at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center that they argue has left patients with insufficient pastoral care. (Bernard Little/Walter Reed National Military Medical Center)
WASHINGTON — Republican lawmakers are demanding answers from the Defense Department over the recent ousting of a longtime Roman Catholic religious services provider at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center that they argue has left patients with insufficient pastoral care.
The hospital terminated a nearly 20-year contract with Holy Name College Friary on March 31 and issued a “cease and desist” order to the community of Franciscan Catholic priests and brothers shortly before Holy Week, according to the Archdiocese for the Military Services.
A group of 11 Republican lawmakers, led by Sen. Marco Rubio of Florida and Rep. Mike Gallagher of Wisconsin, blasted the decision in a letter to Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin and are asking the Pentagon to explain why a for-profit, secular company received a contract to replace Holy Name College Friary in providing Catholic pastoral care.
“We have made promises to our service members and veterans that if they take care of us, we will take care of them. This extends to not just providing quality healthcare at our nation’s military medical facilities, but by also providing the ability to freely practice their religion to those under the care at these facilities,” the lawmakers wrote. “The DoD’s actions to deny Catholic Pastoral Care from service members and veterans at Walter Reed goes against the morals, way of life, and rights that make up the fabric of our great nation.”
The Archdiocese for the Military Services, a diocese established by Pope St. John Paul II in 1985, has called the termination of the Franciscans’ contract a violation of the constitutional right to free exercise of religion. The Archdiocese said the secular defense contracting firm tasked with taking over for Holy Name College Friary cannot provide Catholic priests and is incapable of carrying out the required work.
“This is a classic case where the adage ‘if it is not broken, do not fix it’ applies,” said Archbishop Timothy Broglio in a statement. “I fear that giving a contract to the lowest bidder overlooked the fact that the bidder cannot provide the necessary service. I earnestly hope that this disdain for the sick will be remedied at once and their First Amendment rights will be respected.”
One Catholic Army chaplain performed liturgies during Holy Week at Walter Reed and remains assigned to the hospital, but he is in the process of separating from the military, according to the Archdiocese.
Republican lawmakers said pastoral care requires more than just one active duty priest and argued patients would be deprived of certain practices that can only be carried out by an ordained Catholic priest, including celebrating Holy Mass and hearing confessions.
They also took a swipe at doctors at the Defense Health Agency, which oversees Walter Reed, for “advocating for minors to receive experimental gender transition procedures” but failing to advocate for Catholic patients. Republicans have often taken aim at Pentagon policies that they say promote “woke” liberal ideologies at the expense of readiness, such as diversity and inclusion efforts.
“Depriving service members and veterans, who are receiving care, of the ability to enter into the Paschal Mystery with priests is utterly unconscionable,” the lawmakers wrote. “No one seems to be advocating for the right of our service members and veterans to receive the most important sacraments during this most sacred time of year.”
They are asking Austin to explain what factors led to Holy Name College Friary’s ouster and how service members and veterans at Walter Reed were able to celebrate Holy Week.
Walter Reed did not respond to a request for comment but told Fox News in a statement on Sunday that the pastoral care contract is under review to ensure it “adequately supports the religious needs of our patients and beneficiaries.”
